Finnish Poet: Paavo Haavikko

The Finnish poet Paavo Haavikko wrote:
"ei Suomi ole mikään kieli, se on tapa istua penkin päässä karvat korvilla"
(Finland does not have any language, it is a way to sit on the bench from hairs in the ear)


Paavo Juhani Haavikko (January 25, 1931 in Helsinki – October 6, 2008) was a Finnish poet and playwright, considered one of the country's most outstanding writers. He was awarded the Neustadt International Prize for Literature in 1984.

Here is an excerpt of a translation of "On Becoming a Forest" into English
http://www.booksfromfinland.fi/2006/06/on-becoming-a-forest/

To begin with, one must note:

There are many wise men. But on the other hand, 

there is not a single insane tree.

Selected Poems by Paavo Haavikko, translated by Anselm Hollo,  published by Carcanet.
ISBN: 978-0856359149

Three Finnish Poets

Edith Irene Södergran (4 April 1892 – 24 June 1923) was a well known modernist poet. She was Finnish, but she wrote in Swedish.  In her notebook, she wrote: "I do not write poems, I create myself; my poems are the way to my self."  Here is the poem "On Foot I Had to Cross the Solar System: "

On foot
I had to cross the solar system
before I found the first thread of my red dress.
I sense myself already.
Somewhere in space hangs my heart,
shaking in the void, from it stream sparks

into other intemperate hearts. 

Kirsti Simonsuuri (born Dec 26 1945) from her book Mother Tongues: 

I alone I spoke in all tongues
forged keys to secret codes
sweet water: Latin
wild strawberry: Finnish
my silence was as deep
as in the womb, once
...

Marja-Liisa Vartio (11 Sept 1924- 17 June 1966) wrote:

The mirror doesn't give me my face.
When I raise it to eye level,
I see only a landscape,
only a mountain, water, plateau and horizon,
...

These excerpts are from an anthology of Finnish women poets, Enchanting Beasts.